Wednesday, January 25, 2006

ROBIN RICHMOND

My first memories from Robin are from our days at Clarke. Robin was a somewhat hefty boy, not very well-liked, with the exception of his small circle of friends - which included the likes of Valori Franco and that twink Peter Flora.

Robin was the kind of person who could be very obnoxious - but only if his friends were around. Otherwise, he was too timid to say much of anything. When I was in Mr. Franke's 8th grade science class, Ken Bartz and I used to pick on Peter Flora quite a bit. Since Peter sat with Robin, some of our verbal attacks floated his way as well. Robin was such an easy target. He was annoying.

In freshman year, I had Robin in Mrs. Fischer's french class. At one point, we were learning how to say how old our parents were. When it came to Robin, he said (in french) that his mom was something like 34. Most people thought he'd made a mistake. That would mean that she had Robin when she was around 19. It's young, but it did happen. People were even more shocked when (in french) he said that his grandma was something like 49! Does anyone else remember celebrating the 40th birthday of one of their grandparents?

I don't have a whole lot of memories about him from high school. He just existed, as did I. By junior year, I believe he found himself hanging out with people like Scott Jaklin, Chris Staudinger and Marty Johnson. I believe Peter Flora was still around as well.

Near the end of our junior year, I started hanging out with Scott myself. And Scott more-or-less dropped Robin as a friend. Scott told me that he did tell Robin how cool I was, and that he should try to accept me as well.

No thanks Scott! Neither Robin nor myself were the least bit interested. Although if memory serves, Scott did drag Robin over to my house once, for a very brief visit. I was thrilled... In the end, Scott picked me and Dave. And Robin was history.

I ran into Robin many times at the video store. Now most guys will inevitably lose some hair as they grow older. But Robin had some sort of accelerated process going on. The kid was nearly bald within a year or two after graduation. It was a hell of a sight!

Robin lost his driver's license for excessive speeding once. Today, I believe he lives and works in the Milwaukee area. I don't believe he's married.

8 Comments:

You mention his "circle of friends." It's entirely possible I may have been in that orbit.

For a time, Robin, Scott Jacklin, and I sort of hung out a lot, especially in the 8th grade days. We relished making fun of our instructors, almost making a career out of it. More on that when I get to Scott, but more often than not, the three of us, with the sometimes addition of Peter Flora and Chris Stoutinger (sp?), would sit and endlessly (and covertly) impersonate and denegrate the staff of Clarke.

It was pretty infantile. And fun.

Since my Dad's furniture store was closer to Washington than my house, I walked to the store afterschool every day. I think Robin walked with me. It was weird, though, beause we really had nothing to talk about or in common at that time. So it was kind of a quiet walk.

Robin was quiet for the most part unless he really knew you. He hung out with the LuMayes, Carrie F. Sara K. Sherri R. Bob P and myself along with a few others. I remember him as a very sweet guy, someone you could really trust and count on. Even in our high school days we would make fun of the teachers still. Most of the time we were moral support for each other when needed. Great to have friends like that.

I do believe that I was in the "circle of friends". Robin and I were best of friends until for some reason one summer he decided not to ever call me anymore. I remember Scott Jaklin and myself going and even calling his house to see what was up and his mom told us that he didn't want anything to do with us anymore. I think this may have been around the time Robin started working for Bill's Red Owl. I used to own an Antique Mall on I-43 and my folks would help me out once and a while and they said that Robin stopped in there looking for an Anniversary Clock or something. Haven't really seen the guy since highschool, but the hair thing really freaked me out too.

Can you believe it?!? Now, that I think about it more, it was actually his dad that said that. We called and his mom said she didn't know what his problem was and we should work it out with him. Scott and I went to his house and his dad said that I guess he doesn't want anything to do with you two anymore. But anyway, who cares. Guess he still doesn't want anything to do with us since I don't see any comments from him...

Towards the end of high school, Robin hung out with Razer, Nick Ross, Jason Krings, Greg Flemal, Tina Short, Pookie, etc. We partied at Flemal's fort almost every weekend. He saved me from getting busted for underage drinking the Friday night before our graduation (Razer also helped a bunch of us - but you'll have to ask him for his story on it).I liked Robin - we were good friends until he moved out of the area.

Chris Staudinger and Robin and I used to live in the same "neck of the woods" so would walk home from school together the first two years of H.S. when I didn't have practice after school. They were both so nice and not really in the crowd of people that I normally hung out with, but that's what I liked about them. I would run into Robin occasionally post-H.S. and he was always really friendly. I have good memories of both Robin and Chris and would love to talk to them and catch up on what they've been up to.

About Me

These are the stories of my life in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The names have not been changed. My focus will be on all the classmates and teachers I encountered over the years. To the best of my knowledge, everything I write here is true. However I admit that some things may not be. If I have another source, I will do my best to name that source. However, secondhand information is not always accurate. If I've made a mistake, please tell me.
I never considered myself to be a true member of Washington High School's class of 1989. But I was, in name only.
I mean no malice or carry no grudges to anyone I write about. This blog is for me and me alone. These are my opinions. They may not be facts. However, I will never knowingly post something that is false. This is my point of view of my former classmates.
On the off chance that anyone I write about happens to see any of this, and are offended, dont be! These are simply my opinions based on experiences from many years ago. My opinions are not a reflection on who you are now or who you were then. Besides, people can change. The pricks of yesteryear may be the saints of today - and vice versa.
Welcome to my mind.